Doug Ford seeks injunction to halt Al-Quds Day demonstration

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Ontario Premier Doug Ford said his top law man is preparing to go to court late Friday to gain an emergency injunction to stop the planned Al-Quds Day protest outside the United States consulate from taking place on Saturday afternoon.

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“They are going to try,” Ford told the Toronto Sun of his government’s efforts to get in front of a judge before the weekend kicks in.

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It would be unprecedented if the premier and the attorney general could not get into the court system on a security matter, but these are unprecedented times.

“I don’t recognize our country,” Ford said.

The Al-Quds Day demonstration, established in Iran after the 1979 Islamic Revolution as a pro-Palestinian protest against Israel, does not have a protest permit from the city. While it has occurred in previous years, this time is different since Iran is at war with Israel and the U.S. After Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed, it appears his 58-year-old son Mojtaba Khamenei was named the Supreme Leader.

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This year’s event is scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturdaybut that is in limbo now. At this moment the coin is in the air, and no one knows where it is going to land.

But what is known is the premier has had enough of the openly displayed antisemitism in Ontario and has put his foot down on this gathering.

“This demonstration is nothing more than a breeding ground for hate and antisemitism,” said Ford in a prepared video he posted to X. “It glorifies violence, it celebrates terrorism, and it has no place in Ontario. It has no place in Canada.”

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Saying “that’s why today I’ve instructed my attorney general Doug Downey to pursue an injunction that would stop this hateful demonstration,” the premier feels “if we don’t act now, if we don’t act decisively, the hatred won’t stop.”

It sure has been a hateful month with six terror attacks in the GTA – three synagogues, the U.S. Consulate, a Jewish-owned restaurant and an Iranian-Canadian boxing gym all receiving more than 50 bullets but with no arrests so far.

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Enough is enough, said the premier.

“We’ve seen synagogues and consulate shot at and communities targeted and intimidated,” said Ford, adding “just (Thursday) right across the border a hatred a few of us can even imagine and understand when a gunman attacks innocent Jewish worshippers inside of a Michigan synagogue.”

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Michelle Stock, Vice President, Ontario, of the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs (CIJA) said “we commend the premier and the provincial government for taking decisive action to protect public safety and for recognizing the seriousness of the situation” and “hope the court will carefully consider the significant risks to community safety when making its decision.”

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She added, “Al Quds Day was established by the Islamic regime to promote the destruction of Israel and has served as a platform for extremist rhetoric, antisemitic conspiracy theories, and support for terrorist organizations including the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a listed terrorist entity in Canada.”

B’nai Brith Canada, which has been calling for the cancellation of the Al-Quds Day hate rallies for a number of years, “thanked the premier for his moral clarity and fully support his call.”

Richard Robertson, the organization’s director of research and advocacy, said Ford “seeking an injunction sends a clear message that his kind of divisive event that has historically been used to insight antisemitism will not be tolerated on the streets of Toronto.”

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Ford made this decision after meeting with about a dozen leaders in the Jewish community Friday – all of whom told him the situation is untenable.

Said Ford: “We need to speak honestly and openly about the hatred that runs more rampant on our streets with each passing day. We need to speak the truth, truth some of us may not want to hear or acknowledge.”

The truth in Toronto and across the GTA since Oct. 7, 2023, is not pretty. There have been so many antisemitic attacks on synagogues, Jewish schools, and businesses. Ford said the Canada that “embraces differences and celebrates diversity is slipping away.”

The premier added, “if we don’t stand up against the open hatred, we see in our country today more violence and hate will follow against every race, every religion and every community with deadly consequences.”

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Ford’s instruction to his attorney general comes on the same day that Toronto councillors James Pasternak and Brad Bradford wrote a letter to the city’s legal department to seek an injunction, citing many of the same concerns. But they were turned down.

However, Ford picked up the mantle.

At this time, a ruling has not come from the court.

Ford said “no matter what, I fully expect that the police will do their jobs and immediately intervene at the first sign of hate, violence or glorification of terrorist organizations.”

Toronto Police have not commented on Ford’s video. While Supt. Craig Young outlined on Thursday the plan to work with the demonstrators as long as they follow the law, if an injunction happens, the landscape may change.

“I believe deeply in our fundamental freedom of speech, but nobody in this province has the right to incite violence,” said Ford, adding “no one has a free licence to hate. We won’t stand for it. Instead of focusing on what divides us, let’s come together and focus on what unites us, and let’s stand up to hate.”

The premier’s stand was heard loud and clear on a snowy Friday the 13th.

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